Bob Bigelow's Coaching Youth Basketball The Right Way -Focusing on the Fundamentals

Dear Basketball Coach,

We have been lucky enough to form a relationship with Bob Bigelow to bring these content-packed DVDs to you. It covers the basic skills, drills,
and concepts that EVERY youth coach should know. If you're a beginner coach or seasoned vet, you'll surely pick up some great tips from these DVDs.

Who is Bob Bigelow?

Bob is a world-renown expert on youth sports and coaching youth basketball.

Former 1st Round NBA Draft Pick.

Played for the Kansas City Kings, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers.

Played for three Top 20 teams at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

Played at Penn for Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly - the Coach of the 1992 Olympic Gold Medal "Dream Team".

Conducted over 2500 Talks and Clinics on Youth Sports and Basketball since 1990.

Bob has studied youth sports and youth basketball for the last 20 years and he's a world-leading authority on the subject. His focus is on coaching youth basketball the RIGHT WAY.

His approach is focused on what is best for the players and their future development.
Unfortunately, few youth coaches know how to do this or have the expertise to
properly handle the unique challenges of developing youth basketball players. In this
new DVD, Bob shares his knowledge so we can all develop better players.

What's in the DVD - Volume I?

Introduction

What is a fundamental?

Why coaches should try using a 9 pound ball - it makes them think.

The challenges of young kids playing basketball and putting things in perspective.

The goal of this DVD is to teach better ways to coach youth basketball.

Chapter 1 - The Importance of Pivoting and Movement

Why you can't effectively play without this footwork!

How ball position affects center of gravity.

Teaching footwork and pivoting the right way.

4 drills to teach jump stops and pivots.

The proper progressions to teach footwork and a solid foundation for players.

Chapter 2 - Teaching Dribbling the Right Way

The proper way to build dribbling skills for young kids.

How gravity can impact the skills that you teach.

The 2 most important dribbling concepts for young kids to learn.

Unique progressions to effectively teach dribbling.

When and how to add a defense to improve dribbling and ball handling.

Learning to dribble the ball under defensive pressure (the proper progression).

Coaching Youth Basketball The Right Way Volume II(More Drills & Tips)

Volume II gives you 32 more drills, expands on the topics in Volume I, and covers more youth coaching concepts and issues. Volume I gives you all the core tactics and the most important concepts for youth basketball coaches. Once you get through Volume I and have a strong understanding of those concepts, you can move on to Volume II to increase your knowledge and get to the next level as a youth basketball coach!

Volume II includes 2 hours and 10 minutes of footage spanning on two DVDs. These DVDs are geared specifically for beginners. This is typically youth players in 1st to 4th grade (6 to 10 year olds). However, some beginners for 5th & 6th grade will find value in these DVDs as well.

Here's what you get in Volume II:

Chapter 1 - Basic Rules and Referee Tips (NEW Topic)

Court dimensions and how the size of the court affects youth players.

Should youth players shoot standard free throws?

Rule differences for boys and girls.

Guidelines on how to referee young players.
Special adjustments for youth players.

Chapter 2 - Proper Training Progressions

Learn the order that you should teach skills.

Why it's important to introduce skills by progression.

How to introduce those skills.

Chapter 3 - Ballhandling

10 NEW ballhandling and warm up drills.

Tips and key coaching points for ballhandling drills.

Chapter 4 - Dribbling

How to properly progress through dribbling skills.

Tips for youth coaches when they teach dribbling.

5 NEW youth dribbling drills.

Chapter 5 - Coordination & Footwork

Why skills are often introduced too early and coordination needs addressed.

How to get young players to move at faster speeds and stay under control.

NEW dribbling variations to jump stop drill

3 NEW coordination, footwork, and movement drills.

Chapter 6 - Passing

Passing tips and fundamentals.

3 NEW youth passing drills.

Chapter 7 - Shooting

How to teach shooting form.

When to teach shooting form.

Basic shooting drills.

Chapter 8 - Lay Ups

Why kids miss lay ups and why they are so difficult for youngsters.

The best way to teach lay ups and progress through each step.

4 NEW youth lay up drills.

Chapter 9 - Rebounding (NEW Topic)

Why your best offense is the missed shot.

Rebounding tactics to score more points.

Average rebounds available based on age level.

How to teach proper rebounding technique.

Unique perspective on rebounding at the youth level.

3 NEW and simple rebounding drills.

Chapter 10 - Individual Offense (NEW Topic)

Why this can be a slippery slope for youth players.

How to simplify individual offense moves for youth players.

How to teach jabs and ball fakes to make youth players more effective.

How to teach basic moves.

Chapter 11 - Team Offense

Additional screening and cutting concepts.

How to cut and get open.

3 NEW and simple drills for teaching team offense.

Chapter 12 - Defense Tips (NEW Topic)

Defensive tips for youth players.

How to reduce fouls.

How to lower your opponent's shooting percentage.

Chapter 13 - Individual Defense (NEW Topic)

How to teach the defensive stance to young players.

The proper way to shuffle and guard the ball.

NEW drills and tips for on-ball defense.

Chapter 14 - Team Defense (NEW Topic)

How to teach and play good team defense.

How to teach proper defensive positioning.

How to teach help defense.

Important defense tips for youth coaches.

Using the shell drill to teach youth concepts.

Chapter 15 - Critical Youth Coaching Tips

How to keep practice moving and keep players engaged.

How to structure your practice.

How to discipline kids, handle behavior problems, and keep their attention.

Conducting an effective youth practice.

Game coaching tips.

The player's perspective and why you should be aware of "inattentional blindness".

How to become a better youth coach.

How to keep less experienced kids from getting discouraged.

Stats you should track at the youth level.

Playing time and the problem with cutting kids at this age.

How to provide long term development and success.

What's wrong with youth feeder systems and how to correct the issues.

Common mistake high school and experience coaches make with young players.

What Makes These DVDs Unique?

The biggest thing is that few people in the world possess the knowledge and
expertise that Bob Bigelow has about youth basketball. He shares expertise and
advice that you just don't hear anywhere else. His concepts are unique and after
seeing his clinic we knew he was the perfect person to help us create a youth
coaching DVD.

Bob is working with these players for the first time. Nothing is rehearsed, so you will see actual coaching
and a lot of the same situations you will face during practice.

The players are actually beginners and not highly-skilled college or pro players like you will see in most DVDs. As a teacher/coach, this makes it much easier to relate what you learn throughout the DVD to your practices.

Not only does Bob teach the critical fundamentals mentioned above, but he also
delves into issues that you only learn from years of experience. Most of the time,
you don't learn these things until it's too late and you're DONE coaching.

What Age Group Is This For?

These DVDs are geared specifically for beginners. This is typically youth players in 1st to 4th grade (6 to 10 year olds). However, some beginners for 5th & 6th grade will find value in these DVDs as well.

I like that he shows some drills I'd never done before, and he does them very age-appropriately. I love the triangle and screen section of motion ofense drills. It was the concept that I tried and failed to teach last year, and will be able to get across this fall.

Excellent DVD with loads of practical suggestions for successful youth b-ball player development. We will use the wall, triangle and 3-on-3 more next season. Only change: come down even harder on coaches about playing time. Kids "win" by learning fundamentals, getting to play in games, having fun and developing a love for the game, rather than on the scoreboard.

Loved it. Particularly liked the parts on pivoting/footwork, running a motion offense (vs. structured/set offense), and running lots of 2on2 and 3on3 during practice. Also appreciated the emphasis on skill development and fun vs winning games. Anyway, thanks for the DVD and the other valuable information on your website.

This is a great DVD for youth. Will help them get started and also develop their skills. Bob shows great drills for any coaches to use. He also explains why he is using them. It is easy for parents and kids to understand Bob. I will refer to this DVD when coaching youth and running clinics.

Entering my 5th year coaching youth from 5-10 years old, and having read a ton of books and seen a bunch of dvds, i can without question say this is the best coaching advice I seen. Bob's philosophy is right on and he shares a few pearls of wisdom that every youth coach should know. That being said, most of the drills and offensive ideas (Vol 1 does not cover defense) are most helpful to 4th graders and up. Younger than that, creating a fun experience for kids requires some shortcuts like a simple 3-2 zone D and games focused on real fundamentals. For instance, the Steve Nash vid has great ball handling drills you can begin at 5 or 6. But once kids get a little sentient and develop more patience than a hamster, follow Bob's advice. It's brilliant.

The DVD offers lots of good ideas on how to teach basic fundamentals to youth players. Quite often youth coaches take for granted that kids know how to do this stuff, and as a consequence they are never taught the basics. This DVD should be viewed by anyone wishing to coach youth hoops.

Very good DVD.Well explained.Easy to understand.EXCELLENT points made about the right ways to teach young kids.Also shows how NOT to teach them.All the drills in the DVD will be beneficial to all young players.

Dissapointed - not in the video but myself for buying it. This is VERY fundamental. Great information if you have never played the game.I was hoping for more coaching tips centered around creating and running an offence for youngsters as well as some half court defence. I should have spent my money on a different video. I'll sell mine back to you?

This DVD is GREAT! I will be using Coach Bigelow's drills and philosophy with my 9-10 year old players I am currently coaching. Thanks also to Breakthrough Basketball for all the good insights on how to coach youth basketball.

Excellent!!! Started to install Rick Torbett's Read and React system last season. This video is a wealth of ideas to help with our fundamentals to fine tune our offense. Gives great ideas for "quick hitters" to initiate the offense.

All I want is to prepare my players for Middle/High School. This DVD will give me even more tools to accomplish that. It's nice to get a few wins along the way. I believe these fundamentals will help to accomplish that too. Thanx Bob, and thanx Breakthrough Basketball for making it available.

I was (and remain) very impressed with the content. I am currently coaching 7th grade boys and will be stepping back and working with 5th graders in the coming years, and I am absolutely going to incorporate much of this into our practice routines.

Probably one of the top 3 purchases I've made as I strive to become a better youth coach!

Great DVD. We utilized Breakthrough Basketball.com heavily in this last season of 10 yr old girls basketball and it really paid off, but we often struggled to find age-appropriate drills to teach key fundamentals. I wish I'd had this DVD @ the beginning of the season as it provides great drills and priorities for those of us who start with kids who have very few skills. The DVD would be even better if it included a little more on defensive drills and skills development. That said, I'd strongly, strongly recommend it for any youth coach.

I have not reviewed all of the DVD yet. The sections that I have checked out have been quite helpful and age appropriate for my 6th grade girls team. I wish it would have came with a hard copy of the different drills - then I could refer to it during practice.

Great subject matter and presented in a nice format. Very easy to take this straight to the court and practice effectively with your kids. Could use some better editing, as a few times the camera focused too much on Bob, while the kids were demonstrating a skill. I would love to see more!

This was an excellent DVD. Although I don't coach @ this level it was very informative in regards to the progression that is needed in order to master certain fundamentals. I coach in an HS inner city setting and some of the basic drills could assist some of the players. Nevertheless, the one thing that stands out in my mind is that we all crawl before we walk and we walk before we run.

This was a great DVD for coaches working with young players. While I have coached for many years, I was looking for some good ideas for a group of nine year old boys. This DVD had a lot of good information on all aspects of the game. I particularly liked the section on footwork and pivoting. The analogy of the basketball being like a medicine ball for a child, gave me a good perspective for working with these younger age groups. Coach Bigelow did an awesome job with this video and I would recommend it to other coaches. I would be very interested in one of his clinics or future videos if they are produced. Nice job!!!

great dvd would recomend for any coach .Bob breaks down all the fudamental tells you what you should teach and what the kids comprehend . will help me in making my summer camp for grades 1st- 8th better.

This is a treasure for the coaches who handle the very young enthusiastic students. Certain things even though we know and know how to teach, sometime we forgot teach. This DVD makes me understand how important the correct basic fundamentals are. By seeing this DVD at least once in a month may make me refresh. I personally feel this is a treasure for me.Thanks for the coaches and all involved in this.

A valuable input to the discussion surrounding "youth" basketball. I'm just getting back into bball coaching, with my grandson as motivation. (He's nine). I agree with most of Bob's conclusions and advice. The balance of his ideas is not a matter of disagreement, but rather hypothesis which I'm now testing. For example, use of weak hand for lay ups is completely out of the question for nine year olds on 10 foot baskets. Who could argue the eight foot baskets proposition? He's also right about zone presses and zones in general. With limited gym time, any time spent countering the zone is doable at the high price of fewer reps on what I consider essential fundamentals. An example of the undecided and testable is his notion of 3 on 3 and half court. I lean toward his opinion, but think the concept of weak side help and transition defense are important to introduce too. All in all, with other inputs available, Bob Bigelow is a must in the mix.

Very helpful! I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned an incredible amount. However, I was very disappointed with the shooting aspect of this video. I coach a girls 9-10 year old team and understand the real need to lower the basketball rims to a more acceptable height. This video does not help with the immediate problem of trying to teach these young ladies how to shoot a ball every day at practice or during the game. Very frustrating!

I cannot say enough on how much I learned from the DVDs and how much the elementary girls are enjoying our practices. The drills are so suited to them and the thought process Bob gives really shines through when you can actually see progress in development with skills and their enthusiasm to keep practicing. I have girls asking me all summer when does basketball practice start...and we dont start until November. Thanks Bob. You are truly a sports ICON.

Great resource for me as a first time coach (of any sport). After watching the video, I came to the court with five 6 year olds ready to help them develop appropriate skills with fun drills. The video helped me organize my practice, conceptualize some viable goals for the 3 month season and begin to execute them during the time on the court. Bob's philosophy about youth sports is invaluable. His ideas and methods make for a sound and sane introduction to BBall, but still can/should be transfered to many other sports. Some of the other coaches have also subscribed to the Breakthrough newsletters and we are now "diciples". I hope to attend a coaching seminar with Bob, he really has the knowledge and passion for the sport, but most of all, for what is right for our children.

Excellent instruction on coaching youth players. Every coach should watch to understand the developmental needs of young players and how to best teach them the fundamentals of the game. I played basketball but not at the young level I'm coaching (9 and 10 year olds) and the game really should be introduced and practiced differently than the way many of us might remember our varsity playing days. I will be recommending some changes to our local rec center league and have already shifted my focus as a coach of young players. Highly recommend!

I have played basketball nearly my entire life, however, when it came to teaching 6-8yr olds how to play the sport, I felt I was at a loss on where to begin and what aspects of the game to focus on. Bob Bigelow does a great job in this DVD of giving you ideas on how to introduce the fundamentals of basketball to young children and telling you exactly what to focus on in your coaching. It's a GREAT resource!

This video presents a perfect framework for teaching young players and even older players needing work in fundamental technique. I feel much better prepared to coach the 3 teams I will have this season!

Great help for a new basketball coach such as myself! The first DVD is full of good ideas and simple tips that I never would have figured out on my own. Highly recommend this to coaches looking for some guidance on the right way to help children learn the game.

What a fabulous resource for any youth basketball coach. The focus is where it should be - on teaching the fundamentals properly and on introducing them in the correct order. Bob does a masterful job of simplifying subjects that might otherwise be complex. He's got a ton of great ideas for how to teach this stuff, and his philosophy on coaches not obsessing about winning with such young kids is very admirable. This is my go-to guide. Thanks, Bob!

I loved these DVD's. I have coached for many years at multiple levels and I have to say the instruction in the video explains exactly the best way to help kids understand and learn the basics without them thinking about it. If you are a first time coach this will take out all the fear and anxiety of if you are doing the correct things for the children.

I love it. It has given me so many different options to use when teaching basektball. I am already incorporating a lot of the first two disc into my practice.. The kids seem to really enjoy it. Win all the way around.

These DVD's were wonderful! I volunteered to coach my daughter's team of 2nd and 3rd graders, and this gave me a great place to start for coaching ideas, drills, etc. The jump stop drills, and dribbling drills were particularly helpful.

The one thing I wish though, is that there was more specific instruction for really younger kids. Last season, I coached Kindergartners, and now I am coaching 2nd and 3rd graders, so what they can do physically and mentally differs from that of a 5th grader. I found doing the passing drills much harder with this group. I'd love some more age appropriate rebounding drills. And of course, the kids want to shoot - but Bob says not to teach them shooting yet - so what to do?

Coach Bigelow's strong point is helping the youth coach go back to his childhood and remember that kids basically care more about playing than winning, and that they are not "little adults" when it comes to motor skills and strengths. I would have liked to see more in the way of how to teach offensive and defensive strategies to 10-11 year olds. Would also have liked advice about how to "coach" the parents in youth leagues as they can be both extremely helpful and sometimes extremely unrealistic regarding their children's skills and playing times. Perhaps he could share the rules and regulations for his youth league to give us something to base ours on.

Thank you for such a fine product. I would never have been able to coach my youth basketball team without these videos. I have been a basketball fan since I was a kid but never actually played the sport to know the ins and outs. Your videos are an excellent resource. That being said, I would really love a video or eBook showing the court layout, what the "key" is, how to line up for foul shots, where exactly the "wings" are, how and where to inbound from, what and where the post position is, everything that a person who has never stepped onto a basketball court would need to know. I look forward to ordering this item when it is ready. Thank you again for all the excellent products that you currently offer. I have really gained a better understanding of the game from using them.

Absolutely the best videos for youth basketball coaches. As a head coach it is not always easy (availability of head coach & youth coach) to effectively communicate and demonstrate the proper teaching and teaching progression of skills. These videos do it clearly. Another voice (Bob's) reinforces my beliefs and thoughts exactly. Well done!

I'm a first time head coach for an 8 and under basketball team. I purchased both sets of Bob's videos and they've been a great help for me to understand which elements of the game to focus on for my young players. The videos also give you plenty of drills for practice and will help you develop plans for structuring your practices.

Only made it through the first video so far, but it alone is helping immensely. There is allot of wisdom that can be learned from what Mr. Bigelow teaches. Not just what to coach, but how to coach. Dont explain fundamentals, let this kids play ball. Get it in their hands for more minutes. I love it.

Very well done. Love his perspective on focusing on the fundamentals and the process of developing players and not winning and losing. Focus on the day to day improvement and winning takes care of itself. Failure is part of everything we do and we only fail if we dont learn and we stop trying to improve.